Cbus Files 200-Home Proposal Beside the Yarra at Richmond
The property development arm of superannuation group Cbus has filed plans for an apartment and townhouse development on the Yarra River at Richmond.
Cbus Property has applied to the Department of Transport and Planning for a ministerial permit to build 187 units and 13 townhouses across built forms of 8 and 12 storeys.
Its development site at 43 and 63-67 River Street is bound by the Yarra River and is described as one of the largest combined landholdings in the local activity centre.
The lots contain low-set commercial office, warehouse and logistics buildings associated with an electrical supplies business, and would be demolished to make way for the housing proposal.
The site is 200m from the Bridge Road Tram stop, 370m from the Victoria Gardens Shopping Centre and 5km from the Melbourne CBD.
It is in the Bridge Road Activity Centre and neighbours the Yarra River Parklands, and area in transition where the renewal of industrial and employment uses to residential is ongoing, according to Cbus’s planning report.
“Its position between two evolving activity centres and the river presents a rare opportunity to deliver a high-quality, mixed-use development that strengthens the interface between the built environment and the river corridor,” Cbus Property’s urban design report said.
Building heights would be stepped down towards the Yarra River, Crown Street and Murphy Street to allow “sensitive transitions” to adjoining interfaces.
The apartments would comprise 20 one, 89 two and 78 three bedrooms. Each would have a balcony terrace of between 10sq m and 246 square metre.
According to Cbus’s plans, there would be 12 three-bedroom townhouses and a single four-bedroom townhouse, each with front and rear courtyards.
Also proposed are 301 car parking spaces and a health and wellness courtyard of 244 square metres.
As part of its public realm offering, a proposed staircase connection would provide access to the Main Yarra Trail and public open space by the river.
Designed by SJB Architects, MGS Architects and Arcadia Landscape Architects, the project “incorporates elements of the built form character of existing and emerging forms” in the Richmond area.
The City of Yarra municipality has a housing target of 44,000 new homes within the next decade, and developers have answered the call to action.
Gurner Group this month submitted plans for a 685-home mixed-use precinct dubbed Harrington Village, while Goldfields has recently signed Ironside as its builder for a $170-million project in the suburb.
